Showing the Silver Lining of the Cloud

Pupil: You are right. I have been inverting the order of cause and effect. It always seemed to me that conditions both created and controlled my thoughts, that is, I involuntarily accepted the thoughts which the conditions suggested For example: Suppose I want to be at a certain place at a certain time. My appointment is important and I shall be late. What a terrible thing it will be! There seems nothing to be done. That is the way I used to think. Now, in the new order of thinking, I shall endeavor to mentally see myself as keeping my appointment, etc. I shall get into the spirit of the thought that nothing can impede my progress or thwart my purpose, and I an stare that a way will open enabling me to materialize this thought on the physical plane. I am sure that in some unforeseen way my engagement will be kept, satisfactorily to myself and to the other person. In tact, I have experienced similar episodes.

Sage: Yes, almost everyone has had such experiences as you have related, but very few profit by them. The law is, "As a man thinks so it becomes." If you wish to withdraw from an undesirable situation, you must adopt the scientific method of affirmative thinking, and follow it up as a permanent factor in life. You will find that the universal causative Power (call it what you will) always manifests as supreme Intelligence in the adaptation of means to ends. For instance, there is something which you wish to do-build a house, sell something, or do a kind act for someone. It is this supreme Intelligence manifested through you that guides your activities. Without it, you would be unable to outline your intention, much less accomplish your purpose. Your intelligence is the instrument through which the One Great Intelligence of the universe is constantly taking specific form. This being true, every idea which registers in your mind was first formed in this One Infinite Mind. A continual recognition of this fact will enable you to find your way out of any sense of limitation which may arise in your individual experience. I once heard of a man who had an intense desire to do big things. He asked his teacher to think with him along the lines just discussed-that the Intelligence of the universe was taking specific form in his individual intelligence. His teacher agreed providing the student's desire was great enough to force him to arise every morning and take a two-mile walk, meanwhile meditating upon this interaction between the Universal Intelligence and its special form, his mind. The student also was instructed to form the practice of making mental pictures for the precise purpose of developing his intuition and imagination. One suggestion was that he should mentally see himself walking along a beautiful, clear, flowing river, hearing the rippling water, and seeing the reflection of the trees on its clear surface, and then to transfer his mental picture to one depicting his own desire. After following this practice for six months, an idea of almost overwhelming magnitude came to his mind. This did not seem unnatural, however, as it was so completely in accord with his recent habit of picturing his all-absorbing desire. He joyously continued his walks, his meditation, and visualization, and finally the Universal Intelligence manifested in its specific form (his mind) by giving specific directions to bring the big idea into successful operation.

Pupil: Could his mind have captured this big idea without the help of a teacher?